70 years ago today, the bloodiest, most destructive war in all of human history ended.
After the destruction of 2 cities from atomic bombs and reason to believe that even more were coming, the government of the Japanese Empire communicated on August 15, 1945, that it would surrender. The free world responded with a jubilation known as V-J Day--Victory over Japan.
Formally, though, the surrender would take place more than 2 weeks later. On September 2, 1945, the battleship USS Missouri steamed into Tokyo Bay with Allied emissaries. Japanese representatives boarded and signed the formal capitulation. You can read the document here.
This video shows newsreel footage of the surrender ceremony.
-via Ace of Spades HQ